When the church is taken over by obsessive-compulsive punishment freaks, everyone loses - the kids, the parents, the parish, and the priests.
Well, what use is it for the kids to make the Sacraments and their family never darken the door of the Church again? I see this in my own Parish. The kids make First Communion, and since, until recently, they weren't required to make First Confession before making First Communion, some don't come back until it's time for Confirmation, then they have to make First Confession then. The only reason some of them even come back then is because their parents are offering a new car as a gift, or because they want to get married in the Church someday, and they know they can't if they aren't Confirmed. They don't pay attention in class; just sit there, and are Confirmed anyway. After that, no one sees them again, except with their family at Christmas and Easter, until Mama wants to have a big Church wedding.
It is not religious, it is cultural, and maybe, just maybe, what this priest is doing will actually get some of them to THINK about whether or not their faith is truly important to them; AFTER they've gotten their knickers untwisted.